Pocket holes are well known in the woodworking field to join two pieces of wood together. A pocket hole is one that is made at an acute angle, typically about 15°, to a surface of a first board to form an elongated somewhat elliptical shaped hole. A screw is passed through the hole and is screwed into a second board to form a secure joint between the two boards. Most often two such pocket holes are used spaced fairly closely together to form a secure joint between the two wood pieces.
To make the pocket hole a jig is used that holds the board in which the pocket hole is made. One such jig is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,254,320, which is owned by the assignee of this application. The jig of that patent is of one piece construction in the form of a U-shaped frame that has opposed guide and clamp legs that extend transversely upwardly from opposite sides of a base leg. One or more guide channels are formed in an outwardly flared part of the guide leg at an angle to it. The board in which the pocket hole is to be drilled is held against the guide leg inner face by a clamp extending from the clamp leg and a drill bit is guided within an angled guide of the guide leg to make the pocket hole in the board. Variations of the jig of that patent to accommodate boards of different thickness are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,101,123 granted Sep. 5, 2006, and U.S. Pat. No. 7,484,914 granted Feb. 3, 2009, both of which also are owned by the assignee of this application.
In the woodworking art wood plugs are used to fill circular screw holes made in boards that are joined together by one or more screws passing through one board into another board. It is conventional to use only a simple circular plug cutter that is mounted to a drill to make the plugs used to fit into the circular screw holes. The worker most often cuts the plugs from the same wood stock as the board in which the plug is to be used to fill the screw hole, or even a scrap piece of the board, so that a match can be obtained between the color and grain of the board and the plug to provide a finish for the board in which the plug does not look different.
Typical articles that are made using pocket hole joinery include frames and boxes. In many cases the pocket holes are hidden from view. Therefore it is not necessary to try to hide the pocket holes using wood plugs. However, in some cases it is desirable or necessary to use a plug to fill and hide a pocket hole. Plugs for pocket holes are available but these are typically purchased on a stand alone basis and not made from the same stock as the board having the pocket hole that is to be covered. Therefore, the worker is not always able to have a pocket hole plug that will be of the type of wood of the board having the pocket hole or its color and grain.
Accordingly, a need exists for an apparatus that will enable a worker to easily cut wood plugs for pocket holes. This will enable the worker to make an article that has a better finish with the pocket holes being filled by plugs that more closely match the boards that form the article.